by HAEIN JUNG
After nearly 30 years abroad, including decades performing with top European companies, the internationally accomplished ballerina, Kang Sue-Jin, returned home earlier this year to become the artistic director for the Korean National Ballet. However, though she wears the director’s hat these days, she hasn’t stopped performing. To the delight of her many fans, the 47-year-old will star in “Madame Butterfly” at the Opera Theatre in the Seoul Arts Center this weekend, July 4-6.
This marks the first time the ballet adaptation of the famous opera will be shown in Korea. And the response has been swift: The three performances have already sold out.
Just late last year, Austrian Innsbruck Dance Company’s artistic director Enrique Gasa Valga, adapted the tragic “Madame Butterfly” to ballet, specifically with Kang in mind.
“From a ballerina’s perspective, to have someone tailor a stage performance with specifically me in mind, it’s just a great honor,” said Kang at a recent Seoul press conference, along with leading ballerino Carlos Contreras Ramirez and Valga.
“If [Kang] had said no, I wouldn’t have made the ballet at all,” said Valga. “She was my inspiration.”
Kang has been a source of inspiration for many in her field. The prima ballerina-cum-director joined Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet in 1986, was promoted in 1997 and has performed as a principal dancer for the German dance troupe ever since, garnering prestigious awards, such as the Prix de Lausanne in 1985 and Prix Benois de la Danse in 1999.
Ramirez, her fellow dancer in Madame Butterfly, said this about her: “There are a lot of people in the world who are good dancers, but there are very few world stars. For someone like Kang Sue-jin, there is something about her soul that is very special on the stage and that’s something that she brings to her role and the ballet.”
After being hired in February to take over the Korean National Ballet, Kang has embraced the role, praising the dance company’s “strong technique” and strength in “classical dance.” She has said that, during her three-year tenure as its leader, she plans to try new things with the company, Arirang reported. “One of my goals is to develop a distinctive style for the Korean National Ballet,” Kang said during a press conference held in Seoul. “I want every single dancer of the troupe, regardless of rank, to shine on stage.”
Though just a few years shy of 50, Kang has announced that she plans to continue dancing for a few more years.
However, in her efforts to put more focus on her role as the artistic director for the Korean, she will be cutting back on her pre-booked performances, except for the three that will take place in Korea: “Madame Butterfly,” with the Innsbruck Dance Company this month; “Onegin,” with the Stuttgart Ballet in 2015; and a special farewell performance commemorating her retirement in 2016.
Here’s a clip of Kang and the Innsbruck Company in their performance of “Madame Butterfly”:
